poker/baseball post coming soon....

was going to post before passing out tonight, but I'm beat. Put in a bunch of hands today. For a change I ran good in limit and crappy in NL. It was a rollercoaster of a day. Up $700 playing limit. Down $650 playing NL. Then back up $910 playing limit. Sum for the day was about +$1k. Finally got out of my 10/20 slump and had some nice winning session there. Trying to post my first five figure month this month, but it is going to take a ton of work.

I'll dig out some interesting hands and post them up tomorrow. hopefully I can find something I totally screwed up. ;-)

Coaching Forum on ChipTalk

Jojobinks and I have started a new coaching forum at chiptalk.net. Jojo will be the resident tourney guru taking care of all of your SNG and MTT needs. I'll be the cash game guy for either NL or limit coaching.

Along with the coaching available, we are looking to have weekly strategy articles on various topics. Stop on by the forum and check us out.

Poker Coaching by jojobinks and TheMightyJim2k

quickie

stuff

• had 7 year anniversary with Katy this weekend. Had an excellent dinner downtown, then drinks at a pub, followed by a horse drawn carriage ride. After 7 years I love her more than ever, and she still laughs at me. It's a good match.
• Saw Beowulf 3D last week. Special effects were un-freaking-believable. If you haven't seen it you have to see it in 3D before they take it out of the theatres. The movie was good (not great), but it is 100% worth the ticket price if you see it in 3D.
• Played a ton of hands this weekend. I play NL good and win lots of moniez. In limit I run like crap at 10/20 to negate running great at 5/10, and am just over breakeven for the month. Overall having a good month.
• Got pissed this afternoon. Tilted for a few hands. Banged head on desk about 5 times (literally). Sang christmas carols at the top of my lungs. Proceeded to run and play better and recovered losses +$250. ship the masicistic luckbox.
• The Bengals, Bills, and Patriots all won. Yay for teams I root for in the NFL.
• Duke basketball is the shizzle. We are good enough to play with anyone in the country. If you are on our schedule you better get ready.
• baseball is going well. Threw twice this week. worked out a couple of times. discussed some tryout plans with Tom. I really got to ramp up the effort though over the next 3 months.
• I'm getting ready to start a coaches for hire forum on ChipTalk with the legendary jojobinks. If you are a CTer and looking for some help with your game give us a look. We will likely be posting free strat articles every week as well.

that is all. new post with some interesting hands coming soon...

later

jim

FTP affiliate

I just signed up to be an affiliate for FTP. If you don't play online at FTP and are looking to get an account feel free to click on my banner ads to get the full deposit bonus. If you sign up through me please get in touch and I'll provide you with some free coaching based on your monthly rake.

If you are looking for rakeback on FTP it would make more sense for you to go through one of the big boys that can offer you a higher percentage, so let me know if you are interested and I can refer you to one of them.

Also. If you are looking for some serious coaching I'm available for LHE cash (full ring and 6max), and also am looking into doing some NL coaching as well. I feel confident offering my services for all low-mid stakes LHE games online, and low stakes NL games online. If you are interested please contact about rates.

some plays in NL

So I just finished playing a 750 hand session of 1/2 NL. I had a modest 1 Buy-in win, but I was really happy with how I played overall. I lost one hand where I got it all-in pf with AK against a good LAG who held KK for 100bb, and I lost a 75bb flip where I flopped top two against an opponents OESD and flush draw (obv we got it in on the flop). Despite those hands I still made a buy-in and felt really good about my play.

one thing I think I'm getting much better at is making thin value bets on the river in NL. In spots where I can get a call from a worse hand that might be looking to pick off a bluff. Below is a spot where I think I make a god v-bet that unfortunately didn't get called. When the villain in this hand c/r the flop I was pretty sure he either had a K or a set. I call because I have a flush draw that I rate to get paid if I hit on the turn, as well as the fact that the A's might be outs.

The A on the turn improves my hand, but not so much that I would ever want to raise the turn. The reason being that I'm going to blow away all the Kx hands that are betting into me, I'm going to lose value against flush draws that are drawing dead and may fire the third barrel (or we'll get it all in if we both hit on the river), and finally I'm in big trouble if I raise and he has a set.

On the river his check really really looked like either a spade draw that gave up, or Kx that wasn't sure what to do. I had planned on calling a bet of half pot or less on the river, probably folding to a shove. However when he checks I know that I likely have the best hand, and but I might be able to extract some value from a good K hand that think I could be bluffing. I decide to make a 1/3rd pot size bet that is big enough that it could be a bluff, but small enough that it actually could get called. Villain in the hand thought for about 45 seconds before mucking which reaffirmed my read of Kx.

Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
Hand Converter Tool from www.DeucesCracked.com

MP: $350.10
CO: $54.00
Button: $296.10
SB: $198.00
BB: $280.95
UTG: $297.60

Preflop: Hero is MP with As, Qs
UTG folds, Hero raises to $7, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds, BB calls $5.

Flop: ($15.00) Kh, 2s, 6s (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $12, BB raises to $40, Hero calls $28.

Turn: ($95.00) Ac (2 players)
BB bets $64, Hero calls $64.

River: ($223.00) 2d (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $85, BB folds.

Final Pot: $223.00

Results:
Hero mucks As, Qs.
Outcome: Hero wins $220.00.
($3.00 Rake)

this hand was an interesting one:

so the player in question was a TAG who played about 17/15. I 3-bet because he is opening enough hands that not everything in his raising range can either a) call or raise against a pf 3-bet OR b) doing anything other than c/f most flops. When he called I put him on a AK or AQ or 88-TT. I guess hands like KQs could be in his range, but for the most part it is big unmade hands like AQ or a middle pkt pair.

When the flop comes down I am pretty much way ahead or way behind of his range. If he has a K it is likely with a better kicker, and if he has a small pkt pair he is drawing to two outs. Since I only have one over card to worry about, betting the flop to protect my hand is not an issue. A player like that would c-bet this flop with top pair every time, and I know he would expect me to. But I figure all I do if I fire on that flop is fold out hands I beat, and get c/r'd by everything that beats me. So I check through becuase it makes my hand look super weak, and I think I might get some suspicious calldowns.

the turn is the perfect card for me. It makes it much less likely he has a K, while at the same time make it look very unlikely that I have a K. Plus it is the perfect card to get a call from 88-TT. On the turn I decide to make a pretty weak looking half pot bet, that can easily get called by a small pair.

The river actually worried me a little. If villains turn calling range is 88-TT, then 1/3rd of that range just two-outed me. Also he could have been trying to trap on the turn with AK or KQ, but I seriously doubt it (ie I think he would lead at the turn about 100% of the time with those hands). I decide that a small value bet is likely to get called by 88 or 99, and I can fold to a big c/r from this somewhat predictable player. A big bet never gets called unless I'm beat, and I don't want to put a ton more money into the pot and then fold with trips.

I v-bet for about 1/3rd of the pot, and he calls with the 88. I smile.

Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
Hand Converter Tool from www.DeucesCracked.com

Button: $200.00
SB: $201.00
BB: $276.75
UTG: $219.00
MP: $251.45
CO: $366.60

Preflop: Hero is Button with Jd, Kd
MP folds, CO raises to $7, Hero raises to $24, SB folds, BB folds, CO calls $17.

Flop: ($51.00) 7d, 2s, Kc (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($51.00) Ks (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $25, CO calls $25.

River: ($101.00) Th (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $36, CO calls $36.

Final Pot: $173.00

Results:
Hero shows Jd, Kd (three of a kind, Kings).
UTG doesn't show.
CO mucks 8s, 8d.
Outcome: Hero wins $170.00.
($3.00 Rake)

The month is going pretty well so far. Up about $900. There are a lot of good promos going on this month so there is probably an extra $500 or so in money I can make between my affiliate and site promos.

Oh and for those that didn't see my post on chiptalk, I went deep in a 32k freeroll yesterday (6k for first place) and despite being among the top three in chips for most of the tourney I busted on a stupid stupid stupid play. I had just gotten my first AA of the tourney cracked by 77 in a hand that would have moved me from 3rd place and 8k behind the chip leader to leading the tourney in chips by 40k or so. After building up from 10th place back to 5th by stealing blinds an antes about 4 times I opened up K8s from middle position. Unfortunately I mistyped my raise amount, and instead of raising to about 12k like I wanted to I only minraised to 6k. The loose aggro BB obv calls getting like 4-1 pf. We see a K64 two spade flop and he donks out for the pot. I've seen him play very aggressive with a ton of hands in 3 orbits so I feel like I need to protect my hand against a ton of the draws that are in his range. So I make a potsized raise (a little over half of my stack) and he shoves pretty quick. I have to call getting a little better than 3-1 on my money. He flips up K4o. I want to puke. I miss my 6 outer on the turn, and my 9 outer ont he river. He would have folded preflop if I don't misclick, and I would have still been in the tourny in 5th place with 22 left and a terrific table image. Instead of battling at the final table for my share of the almost 20k left in the prize pool I go home with $170 bucks. I bang my head on desk repeatedly.

on a good news front I went and bought a christmas tree on sunday afternoon. I real live scotch pine. Its a beautiful tree. About 6ft tall. Fits perfectly in our living room. I got it in the stand and moved into the living room on sunday afternoon while katy was out, and then we decorated it on sunday night (katy did most of the decorating). We named it Oliver ;-). It is our first real christmas tree since we've been living together (3 christmases). Oliver is one thirsty tree though. I've had to put 4 huge cups of water in his stand already. I'll take some pics and post them up for my next entry.

also if anyone once me to write an entry on anything particular: limit, nl, baseball, my favorite tv shows, or whateva, just post in the comments.

cya

themightyjim

November wrap up

So November came and went and I didn’t blog for the last two weeks (I know totally standard). The reasons are two-fold. First I was waiting till my grind week finished before posting the wrap up, but then I ended up not having enough free time to address it before I went home for thanksgiving. While I was home I wasn’t playing as much, and I really didn’t feel like explaining the blog to my folks so I just figured I would wait until I got home.

So Tuesday I made it a goal to write another entry, but then I just kept putting it off. Then Thursday night I went down to Foxwoods again (lol the games are so easy +$530) and then I had to grind for 4 hours yesterday afternoon in order to maintain my VIP elite status on AP (ship the bonus monies).

So I ended up having my second best month ever, just under $6k with another $2k or so in RB and bonus. The interesting thing is that I actually won more money playing NL2 than I did playing limit, and in about half as many hands. I think I ran decent in NL, but nothing spectacular. Frankly I find the games much easier than limit games, and I think I’m going to play more NL this month with a goal of moving up to NL4 by the end of the month. Because the vip points are worth less on FTP than AP I plan on playing NL exclusively on FTP and playing limit exclusively on AP. Obviously if the limit games are fantastic on FTP or if I feel like playing deep-stack NL I might switch it up. But that is my plan.

I didn’t reach my goal of a five-figure month, but that was purely because I didn’t play enough hands over the thanksgiving break (and at the beginning of the month). I only played about 23k hands and I had hoped to hit 30k for the month. I am really working hard on game selection and only playing when I am focused, but I am sure I can find more good spots to play especially now that I will be playing NL half the time.

The Foxwoods trips was fun the other night. Got there about 10pm and played NL2 for about 2.5 hours to start the night. I bought in for the max ($200) and had to play tight. I actually had so-so seat at the table, but then it quickly got better as a couple of the players to my right really opened up. Basically I just played super nitty since my stack size really didn’t let me tangle in the frequently raised pots (typical raises were $12-15). I had my stack up to about $250 after I won a pot where I limped in the cutoff with T9o the flop was 998 with two spades. A fairly aggro player who had bluffed a couple of times before lead at the pot from early position for $12 (pot was about $26 then) and I raised it up to $36. He thought for a short time and called making the pot about $75. The turn was an off-suit J giving me an OESD to go with my trips and he checked. I was pretty much positive I was ahead so I bet $65 and he folded after a lot of thought.

About 12 hands or so later I am in the HJ and I see QQ. The same loose aggressive player (but seemingly not an idiot) raises from EP to $15. He has raised fairly frequently but I don’t think he is raising with total trash. I decide I need to raise enough to charge the small pkts and suited connectors, also because if I don’t reraise I’m going to induce 3-5 callers and be playing QQ purely for set value. I make it $45 to go and a loose but decent player with a really big stack calls on the button. The EP initial raiser then makes it $135 to go. I ask him how much he has and it around $280 or so and after thinking for about 45 seconds I muck. The button thinks for longer and then folds. The EP player then flips KK face up. The button says he had QJ (lol) and I tell him I had QQ. They believe me but are pretty surprised at my fold. Obviously if the guy with KK had a smaller stack I would have gone with it and he would have won a nice pot. But when a non-maniac live player 4-bets preflop into a tight player’s 3-bet and a bigstack cold-call you can pretty much assume he has AA or KK. I actually would have had to think longer if he had shoved because then AK might have been in his range. But as played it reeked of AA or KK. So the hand cost me $45, but I saved $200 thanks to his raise. If I was him I probably would have either called and open shoved any non A flop, or just moved in. As played his bet folds out pretty much all hands but AA. So he really isn’t making any money with that bet.

I later won a decent pot when I raised 77 from the SB to about $6. I was just trying to build a pot so I could win big if I hit a set. However when the flop came 864 I really figured to have the best hand so I bet out for $20. I got one caller who had a med stack and was fairly loose. The turn was another 8, but I figured he would have raised with an 8 on the flop (he was one of those players who wanted to find out where he was at) so I fired another $35 into the pot. He thought for awhile and said he was thinking about raising, but in the end he mucked what he claimed was a 6.

Then I stacked the guy from the KK vs QQ hand (he was tilting from bluffing off $280 while playing the 72 game with some guys at the table) when I raised to $15 pf with QQ. I got 6 callers ($90 pot) and lead out for $75 on a 985 flop. I planned to get it in if someone raised, sets be damned because I just didn’t have enough behind and certainly couldn’t just check the flop. The tilting guy thought for a long time. Remarked that I was the tightest player at the table, no one had seen me SD a hand, but I always bet everyone out. He said against anyone else that he would already be all-in. He thought and thought and thought. At this point I put him on TT, A9, or a pair and a gutshot. Basically I was really really hoping he shoved. He did for about another $40 and I of course insta called. The turn and river where unimportant and he flipped up K9. He muttered some stuff and walked off. Two hands later I picked up AK in the BB. The player two to my left open raised to $17 without looking at his cards (his friend dared him) and he got 4 callers (about $90 in the pot). I made it $90 to go and everyone fold. Once short stack though for awhile about going with his 97s but decided to muck. At that point I was up to about $500, but I had busted most of the loose money to my right. I was sitting with three big stacks to my left who were all fairly loose aggressive competent players (not good but not bad). Needless to say my seat was horrible to be playing a bigstack especially compared to the normal live action at Foxwoods. So I got up and took a break and ate and orange I brought with me while I walked around the casino.

When I came back I didn’t feel like playing NL so I found a $5/10 limit game that was playing with a kill when there was a $100 pot. After a pot of $100 the next hand would be played as $10/20 game with a $10 dead blind from the guy who won the pot (for those that haven’t played with a kill). At first I walked by the game three times and couldn’t decide whether or not to sit. It was the deadest game in the casino with 7 old guys who weren’t speaking and looked like someone had stolen their dentures. But I saw that their was a lot of loose limpers and check-calling going on, and I quickly noticed that the best seat at the table was open. I could sit to the left of all of the goofy limpers an to the right of all of the tighties that would actually fold pf. I hit some hands and played decent and won $230 over the next 2 hours. My biggest win was when I limped 87s in the CO in a kill pot and then proceeded to spike the nut straight on the turn (with a flush draw no less). We got 2 bets in on the turn and another bet in on the river (amongst 3 players). Then the next hand I was the kill and I got dealt AA (woooohoooo) but lost when a guy with AK hit his gin KKT flop. He actually checked the river after c/r’ing the turn, and thus missed at least one bet against me. I probably could have folded to his turn c/r, but he had made some screwy plays and I really didn’t want to muck in a big pot. If I had spiked the case A on the river some fire works would have gone off because the other player had the QJ (would have made a straight) and I would have the nuts boat against the second nut boat. I tried to talk the table up and loosen the players up, but nothing was happening. Needless to say it was a super easy game, and the only mistake I think I made was missing a river bet with KK when a guy bluff raised me on the turn and I didn’t donk into him (he had bottom pair or something) on the river.

Plan on making a couple more trips to Foxwoods this month. The games are super soft, the drive isn’t too bad if you avoid rush hour traffic, and it is a nice break from online grinding.

That is all for now. December started off well. I played like a big dumb LAG on some 5/10 and 10/20 tables on AP and got up $700 over about 450 hands. Going to play some NL on FTP now. Rooting for OU against Missouri in the Big 12 championship game because I want to see OSU in the title game. Whoever ends up playing against WVU I will be rooting for, because I hate those classless hill-billies with a passion.